I downloaded ubuntu-8.04-desktop-i386.iso. What's supposed to happen next? How do I use it?

After you download the .iso file, you need to burn it to a CD as an image [not a regular file, it has to be burned as an image file].
For more information about burning it, you can go here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto

After you burn the CD, pop it in and restart your computer. It should boot up as a LiveCD. If it isn't loading Ubuntu and going directly to Windows, you need to edit your computer's BIOS. All computers are different, but when you start up your computer there should be a message that tells you to press a certain button to edit settings. Go here for more information: https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/switching/installing-booting.html

Once you get the LiveCD working, you can just mess around with Ubuntu without worrying about saving over Windows, or you can do an install on your system. Go here for more information: https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/switching/first-steps.html

The rest of it is self explanatory. Good luck!

When I booted from the "LiveCD", it gave me this message:

"ubuntu is running in low resolution mode. Your screen graphics card could not be detected correctly. To use higher resolutions, visual effects or multiple screens, you have to configure the display yourself."

Then it stopped booting.

Is this is resolvable, or will I just have to accept the fact that ubuntu wont work on my aging computer?

Hi Caj,

it's hard to say wether Ubuntu will run on your computer or not. Could you provide me with some more details? What kind of CPU and how much RAM do you have? Because if you have a really old computer, then perhaps you could use an alternate install cd?

You have simply to configure the video card and screen type and resolution...
I think you have success to install Ubuntu on this old pc using the alternate cd.
Then you must configure your video and screen.

Below some common tips and the link to download the alternate cd.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Some suggestion and tips to solve install issue...

- Minimum system requirements to install Ubuntu 8.04.1 https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements

- Please check the md5sum of your downloaded Ubuntu .iso image file, here the https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToMD5SUM howto, and compare with http://releases.ubuntu.com/8.04.1/MD5SUMS

- be sure to burn your cd at lower speed you can do usually 4x here an howto https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto

- Please also check the md5sum of your self burned cd. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToMD5SUM

- then to be sure your ram is ok, boot from Ubuntu live cd main menu and at first showed menu, select the item "Memory test" to test your pc ram memory

- Here the steps to install Ubuntu 8.04.1 https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GraphicalInstall

- Watch this video that show howto install Ubuntu on a pc with Windows: http://screencasts.ubuntu.com/Installing_Ubuntu_with_Windows_Dual-Boot

- if something go wrong at startup of Ubuntu live installation when you see the first cd menu like this http://i18.tinypic.com/6tzzndc.jpg pressing F6 you can put useful startup kernel boot parameters https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootOptions as showed here

Try to perform the "Memory test" and the "Check cd for defects" to be sure the cd is read without errors by the destination pc cdrom driver

- Booting from Ubuntu live install cd:
 * if you are in trouble with screen graphic user interface
   (usually the screen is black with a blinking cursor or screen out of range message):
- first try to dynamically change screen resolution please the press CTRL + ALT + "+" and/or CTRL + ALT + "-"
- Try to restart the graphic layer press CTRL + ALT + BACKSPACE
- Here the basic step required during install process http://www.howtoforge.com/the-perfect-desktop-ubuntu-8.04-lts-hardy-heron

If you are still in trouble... please reboot your pc and starting with Ubuntu live cd please try to put some common Ubuntu kernel live cd options you can find the boot options howto here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootOptions

Remove the "splash" and "quiet" options to see more boot infos message and/or errors.
Then try some commons parameters by putting them one by one or together:
noacpi nolapic nodma all_generic_ide

If this don't work i suggest you to download and burn on a cd at lower speed you can do (4x), here an howto https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto, the Ubuntu alternate install cd iso image ( ubuntu-8.04.1-alternate-i386.iso ) you can download this cd from here: http://releases.ubuntu.com/8.04.1/

If you are in trouble to download you can try to install and use a torrent client Deluge http://www.deluge-torrent.org/downloads.php to get your desired Ubuntu iso image http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/8.04.1/ please select a .torrent file

*** if you are installing in dual boot mode Windows + Ubuntu

Please make sure you Windows partition have no errors on it.

Booting in Windows force an a complete hard disk check.
Then reboot again in Windows and make a clean shutdown.
Be sure to boot in Windows twice and to get a clear Windows shutdown.

***

Always useful is the online Ubuntu doc https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/

Hope this helps

Thankyou for your help.

The computer is a 1050 MHz Athlon with 256 MB RAM. The resolution is 1024 x 768. Presently I'm running the memory test that you suggested.

The LiveCD opens Ubuntu in my newer (Pentium IV) computer, so I'm guessing the LiveCD is OK. I'd like to use Ubuntu in the older computer, though, as Windows 98 can't cope with the work I do. Recently I downloaded the Firefox browser and it's such an improvement on IE that I'm hoping Ubuntu will be as good. If there's any Linux facility that will handle SQL Server (or equivalent) and Transact-SQL and the VBA that comes with Ms Access, I'll use it in my newer computer as well.

For the last year or so, when Windows 98 opens on the Athlon computer it always shows the following message: "Error loading C:\Windows\System32\Favorites\Deskbar.dll The system cannot find the file specified". When I close the message form the computer runs normally. Deskbar.dll is in the specified folder, but there must be something wrong with it? I'm wondering if this could this be the cause of the problems in booting Ubuntu, as it stops when it gets to "Running local boot scripts (/etc/rc.local) [OK]"

Also the Athlon computer sometimes (but rarely) loses the active desktop and it looks like the Windows 98 safe-mode desktop, but "Restore Active Desktop" always restores the working desktop.

There could be a problem with the Athlon's memory too. The memory test has been running for 3 hours and shows no sign of stopping.

memtest86+ runs until you stop it. If it has run for 3 hours with no errors, your RAM is probably fine.

256MB is a bit low for running Ubuntu; there is a version called xubuntu which uses a different desktop manager (think of the difference between how Win98 and Win XP look, sort of!) that is designed for older slower PCs. I realise it would be another big download, but that might be better suited for an older PC such as yours.

There are free SQL database servers and related programming facilities in Ubuntu (MySQL and Postgresql are two well known ones). I don't think they will deal with VBA code though, that is Microsoft-specific. You may want to learn a more open scripting language such as PHP or Perl or Python to write your code in, these can run on both Ubuntu and on Windows machines.

Jonathan